Taking the photos of the poppies in my front garden has made me feel a bit thoughtful.
Almost four years ago I went to our local war memorial for a vigil making a hundred years since the outbreak of The Great War. It seems like a very long time ago.
Four years ago come October I went to the Tower of London to see the poppies and to remember the 888,246 British troops who died during that war. Since then I have seen some of those poppies as they have travelled around the country.
I have remembered my mother on what would have been her hundredth birthday and thought of my grandfather who delayed his departure to the front so he could see his precious daughter baptised.
And it seems like such a long time.
It must have felt like a hundred lifetimes for those who lived through it. And at this time one hundred years ago there were still 138 days of that bloody war to endure.
The church that I attend is "The Church of the 48th Highlanders Regiment" and the past couple of years have been very significant. In 1917 the Canadian Regiments, including the 48th were the ones to finally take Vimy Ridge and here in Canada we say that is the day that Canada truly became a country.
ReplyDeleteThe museum of the regiment is in the basement of the church and includes one of the original wooden crosses from a certain section of the battlefield and the 59 troops who died in this section have their names inscribed on it. Last year during the yearly service the cross left the church to go to France as part of the commemoration services. At this year's service the cross was brought back into the church and then returned to the museum. The church was packed (and we are a very large building) with the special guests (besides the regiment members) being the "Vimy Families" - descendants of those who died. It was an amazing and emotional service and the museum was opened for people after service. Then everyone moved to the front steps as there was a march past through downtown Toronto led by their Pipe Band - there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
It is good, to remember.
ReplyDeleteTrouble is, how many people today, do remember? Either about WWI... Or even, WWII? My husband and I are 81 and 85, so we do remember.
I liked your post. It makes me think too. A couple of weeks ago I went to the WWI Memorial and museum in Kansas City. It is really amazing. If you ever get a chance to get over here you should check it out. Sending good thoughts to you, we are having heavy times here in our country...a lot of divisiveness. It is sad and effects us all. So many people today have been born and raised without knowing much about war, except reports of it that are bullet point brief, far away and seemingly removed, easier to ignore. We point fingers and call names to people in our own country that express different opinions about everything. It made me even more sad and hopeless when I visited the memorial to think about how polarized we are here. Glad I have a source of strength I can tap into that is bigger than me and look to Him for answers to things that man will never figure out.
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